1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and a storage medium storing an item selection processing program. More specifically, the present invention relates to an information processing apparatus that is provided with a display on which a menu screen including a plurality of items is displayed, a pointing device such as a touch panel provided on a screen, a direction instructing key and an execution instructing key, and a storage medium storing an item selection processing program thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
One example of a technique for selecting a menu item displayed on a display on which a touch panel is placed is disclosed in a document 1 (Japanese Patent Laying-open No. 10-28777). In the document 1, when a user depresses with his finger an item displayed on the display provided with a touch sensor (touch panel), a screen corresponding to this item is displayed on the display (paragraph 0027, FIG. 5).
On the other hand, in an information processing apparatus provided with a direction key for instructing a moving direction (cross key, arrow key, etc.) and an execution key for instructing execution (A button, enter key, etc.) such as a game apparatus, a personal computer, etc., in general, a cursor for indicating an input position and a selecting state is displayed in association with a menu item. Then, an item is selected according to a movement of the cursor by operating the direction key, and an operation or process corresponding to the selected item is executed by operating the execution key.
However, in the document 1, when the menu item is directly touched, the process corresponding to the item is executed, but it is not clear about movement of the cursor according to an operation of the touch panel. In a case that instructing the menu item is made only with a touch panel operation like the document 1, it is convenient for the user who becomes accustomed to the touch panel operation, but it is difficult for the user who was accustomed to a conventional key operation to enrich his or her experience in the touch panel operation because it is impossible for the touch panel operation to perform an operation for displaying and moving the cursor, that is, an operation for simply selecting and moving the cursor without executing an item, thus causing a problem of operability.